The Annunciation of the Lord
Just nine months till Christmas! Today the Church honours and celebrates the Word becoming flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Today salvation history, God’s working in human history, takes a radical turn. Today God enters into human history Himself, taking to Himself our human nature and becoming, as it were, one of us. And this is all thanks to the “Yes” Mary gave to God’s Will. Her trustful and radical surrender allowed Heaven to come to earth, so that earth may be raised up to Heaven. We see in our Lady also a marvelous example of discernment as she received the message from Gabriel. She tests the calling she receives with what she knows to be God’s Will, not allowing either the glamour nor the immensity of the calling to cloud her judgment. Then once Mary knows that this calling is in accord with God’s Will, she gives her consent – despite the grave difficulties this will bring (e.g. being supernaturally pregnant). But she steps out in faith, receiving the word of God to her and acting on it. For by faith Mary knows that God’s word will be fulfilled, even when it seems impossible. And so, the impossible takes place in her life, as she conceived the only Son of God in her womb, according to His human nature. With Mary’s faith, the impossible can happen in our lives too as we receive God’s word to us and allow God to enter our story, our history.
This Solemnity of the Annunciation is the patronal feast of our Diocese of Hamilton.
Prayer
Oh God, grant that we to whom the Incarnation of Your Son was made known by the message of an angel, may, by His Passion and Cross, be brought to the glory of His Resurrection.